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☆ Blue Shield of California drops CVS, taps Amazon and others to lower drug costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CVS Health logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Blue Shield, whose health plans cover 4.8 million members, said it will now work with five different companies, including Mark Cuban's drug company, to provide "convenient, transparent access to medications while lowering costs." Privately held Abarca will pay prescription drug claims, while Prime Therapeutics will work with Blue Shield to negotiate savings with drugmakers, the company said. Blue Shield will also work with CVS Caremark for specialty pharmacy services. The loss of the Blue Shield pharmacy benefit management contract is another blow to Caremark, which is also set to lose the contract to manage Centene's (CNC.N) $40 billion annual pharmacy needs from next year.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, UnitedHealth, Mark Cuban's, Paul Markovich, Mark, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Bhanvi, Shweta Agarwal, Pooja Desai Organizations: CVS, REUTERS, Blue, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Pharmacy, Wall Street, Mark Cuban, Plus, Thomson Locations: Blue, Bengaluru

☆ CVS stock plunges after Blue Shield of California drops retailer's pharmacy services to save on drug costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of CVS Health plunged 9% on Thursday after Blue Shield of California said it will drop the company's pharmacy benefit management services and instead partner with Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company and Amazon Pharmacy to save on drug costs for its nearly 5 million members. Blue Shield will now work with five different companies to provide "convenient, transparent access to medications while lowering costs." Blue Shield CEO Paul Markovich said the plan, which is scheduled to fully launch in 2025, could save the company up to $500 million annually. Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company will provide access to low-cost medications through retail pharmacies. Blue Shield will retain CVS Caremark for its specialty pharmacy services, which provide specialized therapies and counseling to patients suffering from complex disorders.

Persons: Mark Cuban's, Caremark, Paul Markovich, Michael DeAngelis, Centene Organizations: CVS Health, Drug Company, Amazon Pharmacy, UnitedHealth, CVS, Abarca, Blue, CNBC Locations: New York, California

☆ Blue Shield California drops CVS; picks Amazon, others to lower drug price
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CVS Health logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Non-profit health plan provider Blue Shield, which has 4.8 million members, said it will work with partners including Amazon.com and Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company to provide at-home delivery and access to low-cost medications. Privately held Abarca will pay prescription drug claims, while Prime Therapeutics will work with Blue Shield to negotiate savings with drugmakers, the company said. Blue Shield will also work with CVS Caremark for specialty pharmacy services. The loss of Blue Shield marks another blow to Caremark, which is also set to lose the contract to manage Centene's (CNC.N) $40 billion annual pharmacy needs from next year.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Cuban's, Privately, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Bhanvi, Shweta Agarwal, Pooja Desai Organizations: CVS, REUTERS, Wall Street Journal, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Company, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Progressive had a great quarter, but it's not Jim Cramer's top insurance stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CNBC's Jim Cramer says that although Progressive had an "incredible quarter," he prefers Chubb (CB) as a insurance pick. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Chubb, Cramer, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim Organizations: Progressive Corp, MetLife, UnitedHealth, Progressive, Federal Reserve, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC

☆ Viking Global slashes Amazon and insurance positions, adds to bets in biotech
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ole Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global hedge fund slashed its holding in Amazon in the second quarter and stepped up bets in biotech, according to the latest 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . The so-called Tiger Cub's entirely new positions included a $78 million stake in Alibaba , $6.5 million in C3.ai and $132 million worth of chipmaker Nvidia . Viking Global also cut investments in the CSX railroad nearly 42%. Elsewhere, Viking Global purchased $278 million worth of Netflix stock in the second quarter and opened a $159 million position in shipping giant UPS . Viking Global managed about $24 billion in 13F securities at the end of the second quarter, according to WhaleWisdom.com .

Persons: Ole Andreas Halvorsen's, Halvorsen, Julian Robertson, Jack Dorsey's Block, Phillip Morris, Philip Morris Organizations: Ole Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Viking Global, Tiger Management, Nvidia, Viking, CSX, TJX, Meta, Netflix, UPS, Chubb Limited, Tenet Healthcare, General Electric, UnitedHealth Group, Constellation Energy, GE Locations: Ole Andreas Halvorsen's Viking, Alibaba, Viking, Progressive

☆ Insight: What happens when a $2 million gene therapy is not enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Deena Beasley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

Their experience raises broader questions around other high-cost gene therapies coming to market, sometimes after accelerated regulatory approvals, drug pricing experts said. Gene therapies work by replacing genes – the body's blueprint for its development. The gene Zolgensma delivers instructs the body to make a protein vital for muscle control. If gene therapies do fall short, it becomes harder to justify prices that researchers have argued are already poor value. More recently, the first hemophilia gene therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was priced by CSL Behring at $3.5 million; 26 more gene therapies are in late-stage development, according to IQVIA.

Persons: Elizabeth Kutschke, Ben, Zolgensma, Ben Kutschke, neurologists, Sitra Tauscher, Wisniewski, Ben's, Roger Hajjar, Brigham Gene, Kutschke, Vasant Narasimhan, Stacie Dusetzina, Roche's, Biogen, Roche, Maha Radhakrishnan, Steven Pearson, It's, Sree Chaguturu, Amanda Cook, Weston, Jackson, Cook, Elizabeth, Jerry Mendell, Russell Butterfield, –, Biogen's, Mendell, UMR, Spinraza, Eric Cox, Caroline Humer, Sara Ledwith Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Novartis, IQVIA Institute, Human Data, Novartis Gene Therapies, Mass, Cell Therapy, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, CSL Behring, CSL, Nashville's Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Clinical, Economic, CVS Health, Aetna, SMA, Nationwide Children's Hospital, University of Utah Health, Children's, UnitedHealth, Thomson Locations: Oak Park, Berwyn , Illinois, Swiss, U.S, Lebanon , Virginia, United States, Columbus , Ohio, Russia, Kazakhstan, Chicago

☆ A hedge fund manager shares 2 ChatGPT prompts and the AI plugin he used to filter top stock picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He fed the LLM data from a terminal and asked it to filter its findings through top academic literature and fund managers. Building on the knowledgeIn his earlier experiments, Patel and his team manually pasted increments of stock data into ChatGPT's text box. Using Julius AI, Patel was able to input data for over 6,800 stocks to see if the outcomes or accuracy would change. The metrics Patel chose to input were based on company fundamentals that he felt were important when picking stocks. Patel concluded that whether it's a human analyst or AI that's picking stocks, there are no guarantees in the stock market.

Persons: Alpesh Patel, it's, Patel, Julius AI, Julius, Price, ChatGPT's, Warren Buffett, Cisco Systems Inc Patel, Johnson, Eli Lilly, Rahul Sonwalkar, you've Organizations: NYSE, Nasdaq, US Securities and Exchange Commission, FTSE, New York Stock Exchange, Alpha, Broadcom, Cisco Systems Inc, Apple Inc UnitedHealth, Johnson, Johnson Exxon Mobil Corp Visa Inc Tesla, Walmart, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Procter, Gamble, Chevron Corp Mastercard, Depot Inc, Pfizer, AbbVie Inc Merck, Co Inc, Cola Co, Pepsico, Broadcom Inc Alibaba

☆ Buy these high-quality stocks as macro backdrop remains uncertain, Bernstein says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amid an unpredictable macro environment, quality stocks are well-positioned to outperform, according to Bernstein. "High Quality stocks are attractive against an uncertain macro backdrop. She added that quality stocks trading at a reasonable price perform similarly to quality shares unfiltered for valuation. Given this backdrop, Bernstein compiled a list of stocks that meet its quality at a reasonable price basket. Despite the strong tech rally in 2023, Microsoft and Meta made the list of quality stocks trading at a reasonable price.

Persons: Bernstein, Sarah McCarthy, McCarthy, Morgan Stanley, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, Meta, UnitedHealth

☆ Humana shares rise after insurer's medical costs came in lower than expected
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Humana shares rose Wednesday after the health insurer said medical costs came in lower than expected during its second-quarter earnings report. Humana reported a medical loss ratio, the percentage of premiums it spends on medical care, of 86.3% for the second quarter. Humana highlighted a "stabilizing Medicare Advantage utilization environment" based on the most recent claims activity, without elaborating. The company said in June it expected its second-quarter medical loss ratio to be toward the top range of its full-year outlook of 86.3% to 87.3%. Shares are down about 5% for the year after the broader health-care sector took a beating in June, putting the company's market value at around $60 billion.

Persons: Humana Organizations: Humana, UnitedHealth

☆ Humana calms Wall Street's jitters with quarterly results, clearing way for stock to run higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Humana (HUM) reported second-quarter results Wednesday that were much better than feared, sending its stock price soaring and giving us the confidence to stick with the jilted health insurer. Not only did second-quarter numbers top expectations, but management offered assuring commentary on the worrisome medical-cost trends that torpedoed its stock price in mid-June . That one-two punch explains the more-than-5% jump in Humana shares, pushing the stock to its highest levels since June 14. Outlook Humana raised its outlook for 2023 individual Medicare Advantage membership growth by 50,000 to roughly 825,000 members, representing an 18% increase compared with enrollment levels at the end of 2022. Capital allocation Humana CFO Susan Diamond said the company has capitalized on the "recent dislocation" in its stock price — i.e.

Persons: MLR —, Wall, Bruce Broussard, —, Broussard, Susan Diamond, Humana, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Ty Wright Organizations: Revenue, Humana, Club, UnitedHealth, Management, Insurance, CNBC, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: Louisville , Kentucky

☆ Tenet Healthcare lifts annual forecast, bets on rebound in surgical procedures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 31 (Reuters) - Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC.N) on Monday raised its annual core earnings forecast after a strong second quarter, betting on a recovery in surgical procedure volumes and improved contract labor costs as staffing shortage eases. The hospital operator sees its 2023 core earnings in the range of $3.31 billion to $3.46 billion, compared with its previous forecast of $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion. It expects adjusted profit per share in the range of $5.18 to $6.03 in 2023, compared with a prior forecast of $4.92 to $6.09. Larger rival, HCA Healthcare (HCA.N), the biggest for-profit hospital U.S. operator, also raised its full-year adjusted core earnings forecast to between $12.3 billion and $12.8 billion, from prior expectations of between $12.1 and $12.7 billion. On an adjusted basis, Tenet reported a net income of $1.44 per share for the quarter ended June, beating estimates of $1.25 per share.

Persons: Tenet, Sriparna Roy, Maju Samuel Organizations: Tenet Healthcare Corp, Tenet, UnitedHealth, HCA Healthcare, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Texas, Bengaluru

Major insurers UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) and Humana (HUM.N) have already warned of booking higher costs due to a jump in non-urgent surgeries in the United States, highlighting demand for such procedures. HCA Healthcare, which is the biggest for-profit hospital operator in the United States, raised its full-year adjusted core earnings forecast to between $12.3 billion and $12.8 billion, from prior expectations of between $12.1 and $12.7 billion. "We anticipate the market wanted more even though HCA's outlook remains prudent as the healthcare system normalizes," said Citi analyst Jason Cassorla. Shares of rivals Tenet Healthcare (THC.N) and Universal Health Services (UHS.N) fell 2% and 1%, respectively, in morning trading. Profits at hospital operators took a hit following COVID-led lockdowns as people delayed non-urgent surgeries, and as the pandemic deepened a nursing shortage that led to a spike in costs.

Persons: Jason Cassorla, lockdowns, Khushi Mandowara, Manas Mishra, Shinjini Ganguli, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Healthcare Inc, UnitedHealth, HCA Healthcare, Citi, Tenet Healthcare, Universal Health Services, Thomson Locations: United States, Bengaluru

☆ The Dow just posted its best winning streak since the 1980s. Why it keeps going higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Brendan McDermid | ReutersThe Dow Jones Industrial Average just won't stop going higher it seems like. The Dow on Wednesday rose for a 13th straight day, matching its longest winning streak since 1987. Both are up just 3% since the Dow's streak began. There are several reasons for the Dow's streak, but none may be bigger than recession fears easing. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Dow riding 12-day winning streakNo more recession?

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Dow, Steve Eisman, Neuberger Berman, CNBC's, Michael Lewis, Jerome Powell, Goldman Sachs, Johnson Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Reuters, Dow Jones, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, Companies, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, UnitedHealth, JPMorgan Chase &, Johnson, Intel, CAT Caterpillar Inc Locations: New York City, U.S, Chevron

☆ Launch of arthritis drug biosimilars ramps up US pressure on pricing 'middlemen'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Patrick Wingrove | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Seven drugmakers this month launched their own versions, known as biosimilars, of AbbVie's (ABBV.N) flagship arthritis drug Humira, once the world's top-selling prescription medicine. Three have kept their list price within 5%-7% of AbbVie's, two priced at an 85% discount and two have offered both types of prices. For insured patients who are often on the hook for co-pays of 10% to 25% of the list price, the savings have been minimal. Reuters GraphicsThe Biden administration has made lowering drug prices a priority. Amgen offered 5% and 55% discounts to AbbVie's $6,922 per month Humira price tag, and both were included on drug coverage lists at two large PBMs.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Humira, Ameet Sarpatwari, Biden, PBMs, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Amgen, Robin Feldman, Ron Wyden, Wyden, Chuck Grassley, Grassley, Patrick Wingrove, Moira Warburton, Josephine Walker, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Association for Accessible Medicines, Harvard Medical School, Reuters, Lawmakers, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, CVS, Biosimilars, Healthcare, Novartis, Sandoz, Reuters Graphics Reuters, University California College of the, Democratic, Republican, Thomson Locations: U.S, Humira, San Francisco, New York, Washington

As corporate earnings season reaches its peak in the coming weeks, Morgan Stanley advises traders to look for certain stock plays. Morgan Stanley chief equity strategist Mike Wilson said in a Monday note that he expects "performance dispersion to rise" as more companies report their earnings. Wilson recommends investors choose stocks that exhibit high earnings quality, strong free cash flow generation and improving earnings revision. Nonetheless, more than 90% of analysts covering the stock rate it a buy, according to Refinitiv. The company is set to report earnings Tuesday before the bell.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Mike Wilson, Wilson, Morgan, Morgan Stanley's, Dara Mohsenian, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Dow Jones, Microsoft, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Health, UnitedHealth, Humana, Elevance, Dow, Health Care, SDPR Fund, Mobile, General Motors, GM, Colgate, Palmolive, Comcast, CNBC Locations: U.S, NBCUniversal

☆ This sleepy Dow ETF is gaining traction as the old-school average looks for a 10-day win streak
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Dow rose for the ninth consecutive trading session Thursday, its longest winning streak since 2017. Meanwhile, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) has raked in more than $1 billion in net inflows over the past week. Here are some other notable ETF data points from the past week. The fund has gained more than 4% this month and brought in about $300 million in new cash over the past week. SPY saw abnormally high outflows of more than $10 billion over the past week.

Persons: Dow, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Dow Jones, DIA, Trust, Big Tech, Microsoft, UnitedHealth, Vanguard, CSI China Internet

☆ Johnson & Johnson beats on earnings, hikes full-year guidance as medtech sales surge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Johnson & Johnson on Thursday reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations, and lifted its full-year guidance as sales from the company's medtech business jumped. That compares with a net income of $4.8 billion, or $1.80 per share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings per share were $2.80 for the period. J&J is now forecasting full-year sales of $98.80 billion to $99.80 billion, about $1 billion higher than the guidance provided in April. The company raised its 2023 adjusted earnings outlook to $10.70 to $10.80 per share, from a previous forecast of $10.60 to $10.70 per share.

Persons: Johnson Organizations: UnitedHealth, Elevance, Refinitiv

July 14 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N) quarterly profit beat Wall Street estimates on Friday as a smaller-than-expected jump in medical costs allayed fears that a resumption in long-delayed surgical procedures would hit profit growth, sending its shares up 5%. The beat from the industry bellwether lifted the shares of rivals Humana (HUM.N), Cigna (CI.N), CVS Health (CVS.N) and Elevance Health (ELV.N) between 2% and 5%. Chief financial officer John Rex said the company expects medical costs for the third quarter to be "a little bit lower" compared to the second quarter. UnitedHealth's profit of $6.14 per share for the second quarter beat analysts' expectations of $5.99, according to Refinitiv. Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: John Rex, Stephens, Scott Fidel, UnitedHealth, Humana, Bhanvi Satija, Pooja Desai Organizations: Wall, Humana, CVS Health, Elevance, Health, Medicare, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

As investors bet on a milder inflation outlook, the MSCI World Equity index (.MIWD00000PUS) rose to its highest so far this year. BOND YIELD BOUNCEU.S. government bond yields bounced back slightly on Friday after sharp declines earlier in the week. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up 10.6 bps at 4.717%. "Getting the 3% (inflation reading) is one thing, getting back to 2% is going to be a much harder task," Villamin said. LOWER DOLLAR HOLDSThe dollar hovered near a 15-month low on Friday and was set for its biggest weekly decline since November after softening U.S. inflation data.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Germany's DAX, Michele Morganti, Morganti, Norman Villamin, We're, Villamin, Brent, Lawrence Delevingne, Elizabeth Howcroft, Jan Harvey, Nick Macfie Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, U.S . Federal Reserve, Wednesday U.S, JPMorgan Chase, UnitedHealth, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Generali Investments, Treasury, Brent, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Rome, Libya, Nigeria, Boston, London

SummaryCompanies JPMorgan, Wells Fargo up as Q2 profit rises on higher interest incomeUnitedHealth rises on Q2 profit beatFutures mixed: Dow adds 0.33%, S&P up 0.02%, Nasdaq slips 0.12%July 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow futures rose on Friday as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo commenced second-quarter earnings for big U.S. banks on a strong note. UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) gained 3.6% after the health insurer reported a quarterly profit above analysts' estimates, as the industry bellwether's expenses came in lower than feared. Overall earnings for the S&P 500 constituents are seen dropping 6.4% in the second quarter, according to Refinitiv data released at the start of the earnings season. The earnings are expected to feed into a strong rally in recent days. ET, Dow e-minis were up 114 points, or 0.33%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1 points, or 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 19.5 points, or 0.12%.

Persons: Wells, Dow, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Christopher Waller, bullish, Morgan, Johann M Cherian, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty Organizations: JPMorgan, Nasdaq, Dow, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, BlackRock, Federal, of Michigan, Dow e, Microsoft, UBS, Activision, Thomson Locations: Wells Fargo, U.S, Bengaluru

UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) jumped 7.2% after the health insurer's quarterly profit beat analysts' average estimate, as the industry bellwether's expenses came in lower than feared. Wells Fargo (WFC.N) gained 0.8% after reporting a 57% rise in quarterly profit. Citigroup (C.N) fell 2.9% after the lender's quarterly profit tumbled 36% as weakness in its trading business blunted gains in its personal banking and wealth management unit. The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) shed 0.8%, erasing early gains. Of the 30 companies in the S&P 500 index that have reported earnings to date, 80% beat analysts' expectations, as per Refinitiv Data.

Persons: Wells, JPMorgan Chase, First Republic Bank . Wells Fargo, Banks, They've, Robert Pavlik, bullish, Morgan, Johann M Cherian, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Sriraj, Maju Samuel, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: JPMorgan, Dow, Nasdaq, Wall Street, UnitedHealth, JPMorgan Chase, Rivals, First Republic Bank . Wells, Dakota Wealth, Citigroup, BlackRock, Dow Jones, Microsoft, UBS, Nvidia, NYSE, Thomson Locations: Wells Fargo, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ UnitedHealth stock jumps after earnings top estimates despite rising medical costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

UnitedHealth Group' s stock price jumped Friday after the health-care conglomerate reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations despite rising medical costs. UnitedHealth Group is the biggest health-care company in the U.S. by market cap and revenue, and is even bigger than the nation's largest banks. Given its size, UnitedHealth Group is considered a bellwether for the broader health insurance sector. UnitedHealth Care said that was driven by the previously noted uptick in elective surgeries and outpatient care activity, primarily among seniors. But UnitedHealth Group executives indicated that the trend may be reversing.

Persons: UnitedHealth, –, John Rex, Rex, Goldman Sachs Organizations: UnitedHealth, Refinitiv, Healthcare, Analysts, Goldman, Rex . Insurance Locations: Minnesota, U.S

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: AT&T, Microsoft, JPMorgan, Citi and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The company reported an adjusted $4.37 per share and $42.4 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by Refinitiv estimated $4 a share and $38.96 billion. Wells reported an adjusted $1.25 per share and $20.53 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by Refinitiv forecasted $1.16 per share and $20.12 billion. Citi -- Citi stock added nearly 2% in premarket trading after beating on earnings. Analysts polled by Refinitiv forecasted $1.30 per share and $19.29 billion. The company reported an adjusted $6.14 per share and $92.9 billion in revenue while analysts polled by Refinitiv forecasted $5.99 and $91 billion.

Persons: JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Wells, Sarah Min Organizations: JPMorgan, Refinitiv, Citi, BlackRock, Northland Capital Markets, Microsoft, UBS, UnitedHealth, Alcoa Locations: New York, U.S, New York's

☆ 3 health-care stocks are in the headlines. How the news impacts our investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

In April, alongside its first-quarter results, J & J raised its full-year sales guidance by about $1 billion and its earnings-per-share outlook by 15 cents. Clearing this overhang would help reduce the discount at which J & J shares to pharmaceutical peers, the firm said. The Club's take: JPMorgan's thinking on J & J aligns quite closely with our own. The dark cloud of talc lawsuits continues to keep a lid on J & J's stock price. Joaquin Duato, chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson, at the company's headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S., on Thursday, April 21, 2022.

Persons: Johnson, Eli Lilly, J, Wells, Wells Fargo, Eli Lilly's, —, Eisai, Biogen, Bloomberg, we've, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Joaquin Duato, Amir Hamia Organizations: Johnson, JPMorgan, pharma, U.S ., Humana, UnitedHealth, Bloomberg, U.S, Mayo Clinic, Club, GE Healthcare, CNBC, Getty, & $ Locations: U.S, California, Wells Fargo, Rochester , Minnesota, New Brunswick , New Jersey

Historically, doctors’ practices have been relatively small, and owned by doctors themselves. Hospitals and insurance companies have also bought out many independent physicians’ practices. Optum, an arm of the publicly traded UnitedHealth Group, which also owns one of the nation’s largest insurers, employs roughly 70,000 physicians. Private equity is often viewed by physicians as an attractive alternative to having their practice bought by a hospital. “It can be a really good thing, but the private equity firms have to keep their promises and be held accountable,” she said.

Persons: ’, “, ”, Richard Scheffler, Lisa Walkush, Grant Thornton, Michael Kroin Organizations: Physicians, Institute, Petris, . Hospitals, UnitedHealth Group, Growth Partners Locations: U.S, Berkeley, Chicago

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